approached a rocky formation where he stopped. He said, ‘‘Look carefully and you
might see something coming out from underneath the rocks.’’ Canoë started to
deploy the mechanical arm and extended the claw just underneath a rock. Suddenly I saw a giant lobster crawl out and start to run. Off we went with the Cyana,
chasing the lobster. The bottom was a little rough with several rocky outcrops
partially buried by a sedimented bottom and it was impressive and scary to zigzag
in between the rocks following the lobster. Finally Canoë had to give up the chase,
because the lobster lost us and had disappeared in its familiar environment.
Diving on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the FAMOUS Area
The area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) spreading center near 36°54
0 N33°16
0 W is located southwest of the Azores between two small, second order ridge
discontinuities. In this area more than 25 cruises had been carried out by French,
American, Canadian and British institutions before the diving expeditions of
1973–1974 occurred. The base map used for conducting our dives was made by the
French navy oceanographic vessel D’ENTRECASTAUX of the ‘‘Service Hydrographique de la Marine’’ in May 1973 and May–June 1974. The Navy ship was
chosen because, at that time, it was equipped with a narrow beam echo-sounder
capable of visualizing structures within a 200 m contour line at 2,500 m depth. In
addition, bottom moored transponders were used to increase the bathymetric
precision by means of triangulation. Farcy, Plassereau, Vernet and Vincent Renard
from IFREMER conducted the mapping project in association with the crew and
the officers of the D’ENTRECASTAUX.
Fig. 7.3 During one of its dives on the continental slope off Corsica Island, the bathyscaphe
Archimède left traces of its ballast on the sea floor (LePichon et al. 1975). The ballast (iron
pellets) was dropped during maneuvering in order to free the submersible after being grounded by
an avalanche along a sedimented slope. (Copyright IFREMER, Project FAMOUS 1973,
Archimède dive Ar73-7)
The FAMOUS project: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37°N
181
might see something coming out from underneath the rocks.’’ Canoë started to
deploy the mechanical arm and extended the claw just underneath a rock. Suddenly I saw a giant lobster crawl out and start to run. Off we went with the Cyana,
chasing the lobster. The bottom was a little rough with several rocky outcrops
partially buried by a sedimented bottom and it was impressive and scary to zigzag
in between the rocks following the lobster. Finally Canoë had to give up the chase,
because the lobster lost us and had disappeared in its familiar environment.
Diving on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the FAMOUS Area
The area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) spreading center near 36°54
0 N33°16
0 W is located southwest of the Azores between two small, second order ridge
discontinuities. In this area more than 25 cruises had been carried out by French,
American, Canadian and British institutions before the diving expeditions of
1973–1974 occurred. The base map used for conducting our dives was made by the
French navy oceanographic vessel D’ENTRECASTAUX of the ‘‘Service Hydrographique de la Marine’’ in May 1973 and May–June 1974. The Navy ship was
chosen because, at that time, it was equipped with a narrow beam echo-sounder
capable of visualizing structures within a 200 m contour line at 2,500 m depth. In
addition, bottom moored transponders were used to increase the bathymetric
precision by means of triangulation. Farcy, Plassereau, Vernet and Vincent Renard
from IFREMER conducted the mapping project in association with the crew and
the officers of the D’ENTRECASTAUX.
Fig. 7.3 During one of its dives on the continental slope off Corsica Island, the bathyscaphe
Archimède left traces of its ballast on the sea floor (LePichon et al. 1975). The ballast (iron
pellets) was dropped during maneuvering in order to free the submersible after being grounded by
an avalanche along a sedimented slope. (Copyright IFREMER, Project FAMOUS 1973,
Archimède dive Ar73-7)
The FAMOUS project: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37°N
181